Environmental Due Diligence Audit for Palatine Private Equity LLP
Environmental Monitoring Solutions (EMS) supported Palatine Private Equity LLP with their investment in Papilo (formerly Roydon Recycling), a waste broker and dealer.
EMS’s environmental experts carried out an Environmental Due Diligence (EDD) Audit at Papilo’s premises to assess the compliance of the site and answer questions posed by Palatine.
An EDD Audit identifies risks early on that could complicate a transaction further down the line. By proactively identifying environmental and regulatory liabilities, a company can prevent unexpected costs and delays.
During the audit EMS was able to identify potential liabilities and quantify these with an appropriate financial cost, allowing for a seamless investment.
The Client
Palatine Private Equity LLP are a partner-led private equity firm that invests in multiple sectors across the UK. Headquartered in Manchester, with other offices in London and Birmingham, Palatine operates at both a regional and national level providing capital to support various stages of a company’s development.
Client Benefits
- The prevention of the inheritance of any legal non-compliances
- Environmental risks are brought to light prior to the investment, painting a more comprehensive picture of the business activities and associated risks
- Identification of any mitigation or remedial measures and costs required to continue operation
- A thorough understanding of what Papilo had to do to remain in legal compliance
Through an Environmental Due Diligence Audit, Palatine invested in Papilo with a comprehensive understanding of any current or environmental risks and opportunities.
The Challenges
Palatine were exploring an investment in Papilo and recognised the potential for environmental liabilities, given that Papilo deals with waste management.
Palatine required external expertise to identify material risks that they could inherit in an investment.
External expertise is needed to help businesses identify compliance gaps, ensuring all necessary environmental permits from businesses you collaborate with are obtained and accessible. This prevents waste from being sent to unauthorised locations.
For example, a business may be best advised to avoid waste contractors if the waste contractor cannot provide either a paper copy or electronic copy of the full permit for their site, or alternatively that the permit should be requested from the site directly, or from the public register.
A business must take all reasonable measures to meet waste duty of care requirements, or it could face prosecution. There could be a further risk of considerable damage to reputation and loss of customers.
EMS’s experienced consultancy was brought in to identify at any potential risks, using decades of experience.
The Solution
EMS’s team of experienced environmental consultants conducted a thorough audit which assessed the environmental practices, compliance, and potential liabilities at Papilo.
A preliminary assessment of the company’s environmental records, permits, and compliance history was carried out to identify potential areas of concern.
To ensure an in-depth assessment EMS’s team asked questions such as:
- How does the company assess compliance and best practice when onboarding new suppliers?
- How do they determine which suppliers to use for the various waste streams and ensure that the contractors are fulfilling their requirements?
- What quality checks do they conduct on the waste they manage?
This EDD audit gave Palatine Private Equity better oversight of operations, allowing them to enact any mitigation or remedial measures and identify any costs that would be required for their investment process to continue, unhindered.
